'Dinky' asteroid imaged by NASA has ultra-rare double moon, study confirms

 

Image courtecy of NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL/NOIRLab

Joel Kontinen 

Researchers have proposed a model for how a double moon named Selam formed around the tiny asteroid Dinkinesh. This is the first 'contact binary' moon ever discovered, scientists say.

“When NASA's Lucy mission flew past the asteroid Dinkinesh on Nov. 1, 2023, it discovered an unexpected companion: a pair of fused moons that scientists named Selam. Now, researchers have proposed a model explaining how Selam may have formed.”

It seems that space is more wonderful than we thought.

“Astronomers supervising Lucy ― a car-sized spacecraft that launched on Oct. 16, 2021 ― had primarily intended to study Jupiter's Trojan asteroids, two swarms of space rocks that lead and lag behind the gas giant as it careens around the sun. However, in January 2023, they added the diminutive main-belt asteroid Dinkinesh — affectionately called "Dinky" — to the spacecraft's travel itinerary as its first destination. This flyby was supposed to be a dress rehearsal, allowing Lucy's team to test a system for tracking and imaging asteroids.

As Lucy approached Dinky, astronomers saw signs that the small asteroid was orbited by an even smaller moon. But when Lucy swooshed past — ultimately coming within 430 kilometres or 267 miles of the asteroid while snapping hundreds of high-definition photos — the researchers saw the truth was even stranger than they predicted. The images revealed that Selam wasn't one, but two "moonlets" touching each other as they orbited Dinkinesh. “

Source:

 Deepa Jain 2024 'Dinky' asteroid imaged by NASA has ultra-rare double moon, study confirms | Live Science 30 May.

James Webb telescope sees 'birth' of 3 of the universe's earliest galaxies in world-1st observations

 

Image courtesy of NASA, ESA, CSA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)

Joel Kontinen

According to some evolutionists, the “James Wbb Space Telescope may have spotted the birth of some of the earliest galaxies in the universe for the first time ever ”.

“In a new study, published Thursday (May 23) in the journal Science, the researchers report the detection of what appears to be three infant galaxies sprouting from a primordial cloud of hydrogen and helium gas just 400  million years after the Big Bang. “

The authors, say that  “this discovery could open a window into the murky period known as the era of reionization — a time when the earliest stars and galaxies first began to pierce the dark, dense clouds of gas around them and thus reveal the transparent universe we know today.”

What this survey does not state that it was God who formed the sstars in the beginning.

Source;

Brandon Specktor, 2024, James Webb telescope sees 'birth' of 3 of the universe's earliest galaxies in world-1st observations | Live Science 25 May.

Earth-like exoplanet found just 40 light years away – the closest yet

 

Image courtecy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (Caltech-IPAC)

Joel Kontinen

Astronomers have discovered an Earth-like exoplanet sitting just a cool, red dwarf star 40 light years away from our solar system, making it the closest potentially habitable world to us yet.

“One of the planets the planets, which orbits the star Gliese 12 in the constellation Pisces, was first spotted by astronomers using the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, a NASA space telescope.”

But Gliese 12b is probably not suited for life.

Source:

Chen Ly 2024 Earth-like exoplanet found just 40 light years away – the closest yet | New Scientist 25 May

Bizarre evolutionary roots of Africa's iconic upside-down baobab trees revealed

 

Image courtecy of: Shutterstock / Dudarev Mikhail

Joel Kontinen

The baobab tree evolved on the island of Madagascar before eventually spreading to Africa and Australia, new research suggests.

“The iconic, "upside-down" baobab tree first emerged on the island of Madagascar, new research into its tangled evolutionary history reveals. It's still not clear, however, that is is found in Australia while it grew origamally in on Madagascar,

“The majestic baobab tree can grow to heights of 25 meters or 82 feet and can live thousands of years. It is often dubbed "the tree of life" thanks to its amazing capacity to store water, provide food and even medicine from its leaves.” 

However, the origins of the baobab (Adansonia) have been shrouded in mystery, in part because it's found in multiple regions. One species, Adansonia digitata is found in some 32 African countries, and another, A. gregorii, is found in northwestern Australia. The other six species are endemic to to Madagascar.

The tree emerged on the island of Madagascar around 41.1 million years ago41.1 million years ago, while the first baobab emerged 21 million years ago, the team reported in the new study, which was publishedwas published Wednesday (May 15) 

Source:

Richard Pallardy 2024 Bizarre evolutionary roots of Africa's iconic upside-down baobab trees revealed (msn.com) 19 May

Some of the oldest stars in the universe found hiding near the Milky Way's edge — and they may not be alone

 

Image courtesy of European Southern Observatory. 

Joel Kontinen 

According to some evolutionists, ” the ancient celestial objects may have been among the first to form after the Big Bang and were likely according to evolutionists, stolen by our galaxy during gravitational tugs-of-war billions of years ago.”

“In the study, published May 14 in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, researchers reanalyzed three previously observed stars each located around 30,000 light-years from Earth! in the Milky Way's halo — a massive cloud of stars that orbit beyond our galaxy's main galactic disk.”

 Some scientists say that “The basic chemical composition of these stars suggests they are all between 12 and 13 billion years old, making them almost as old as the universe itself, which formed around 13.8 billion years old.

This dating is off by several hundred years:  Only God could make the stars.

Source:

 Harry Baker 2024. Some of the oldest stars in the universe found hiding near the Milky Way's edge — and they may not be alone | Live Science 16 May.

Oldest known human viruses found hidden within Neanderthal bones

 

Image courtesy of S. S. Entressangle/E. Daynes/Science Photo Library

Joel Kontinen

“Genetic sequences from three common viruses that plague humanity today have been isolated from the remains of Neanderthals who lived more than 50,000 years ago.

Marcelo Briones at the Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil, says it may be possible to synthesise these viruses and infect modern human cells with them in the lab.”

The connect between humans and neandertals means that humans were the children of Noah and not of apes.

Source:

James Woodford. 2024. Oldest known human viruses found hidden within Neanderthal bones | New Scientist 14 May.

A white dwarf acts as a lens for the light of the star behind it

 

Image courtecy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

Joel Kontinen

What do we know about the impossible star? Mystery of 'impossible' star resolved by three-body solution.

A white dwarf star orbiting a sun-like star was thought to be impossibly small, but now astronomers have found another star in the system that solves the puzzle.

The mystery of a star that seemed too small to exist has been solved – by the detection of another star hiding in the same system.

In 2019, astronomers announced the discovery of an unusual system called KIC 8145411 in which a white dwarf – the dull, compact remnant left behind after certain stars exhaust their nuclear fuel – was orbiting a sun-like star every 450 days. The system is a rare example of a self-lensing binary.

 

Source: 

Jonathan O’Callaghan 2024 Mystery of 'impossible' star resolved by three-body solution | New Scientist 14 May 

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Greta Thunberg accuses Israel of ‘artwashing’ reputation through Eurovision

 

Image courtesy of Reuters

 Joel Kontinen

Greta Thunberg does not like Israel. She does not recognise that Hamas did on October 7 when it destroyed the folks of Israel and killed 1 200 of them, taking over 130 hostages. 

But she only has contempt for Israel, ”More than ten thousand anti-Israel protesters, including Greta Thunberg, descended on the arena where the contest was held in Malmo, Sweden, in the day’s leading up to the competition final.”

”Greta Thunberg has accused Israel of “artwashing” its reputation at the Eurovision Song Contest after she joined pro-Palestinian protesters calling for a boycott of the event.”

“Israeli singer Eden Golan, whose emotional song Hurricane was reworked from a previous track called October Rain, thought to be a reference to the Hamas attacks on Israel, will take part in the final on Saturday evening." She finished fifth.

Source:  

Alexander Butler, 2024,  Greta Thunberg accuses Israel of ‘artwashing’ reputation through Eurovision | The Independent 11 March.

Molecule responsible for robbing Venus of its water may finally have been identified

 

Venus, as seen by NASA’s Magellan spacecraft.  Image courtesy of NASA/JPL.

Joel Kontinen 

“Scientists have identified a water-loss mechanism on Venus that could explain how the once water-rich world became completely parched.”

A “molecule high in Venus' atmosphere, water escaped Venus at double the rate previously estimated. As faster water loss means less time is needed to boil away the planet's water reservoir, scientists say Venus may have harbored oceans — and potentially habitable conditions — for longer than previously thought before the drying process began.”

According to some evolutionists, "this would provide more time for possible life to arise," study co-author Eryn Cangi, a research scientist at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) ,”

 “Prior studies suggest that both Venus and Earth likely received similar amounts of water early in their history, mostly from water vapor-spewing volcanoes and icy comets that frequently bombarded the worlds.”

But only God can give life to a planet,  

Source;

Sharmila Kuthunur 2024. Molecule responsible for robbing Venus of its water may finally have been identified (msn.com) 8 May

Neanderthal woman's face brought to life in stunning reconstruction

 

Image courtesy of the University of Cambridge; BBC Stunandertals dios/Jamie Simonds,

Joel Kontinen

The recreated head of "Shanidar Z'' shows a Neanderthal  woman who lived about 75,000 years ago. 

 “A Neanderthal skull that was crushed to bits 75,000 years ago has been pieced back together and used to recreate the face of a wise-looking archaic woman with dark, flowing hair.” 

“Archaeologists painstakingly pieced together the skull of the individual, who researchers have named Shanidar Z, from hundreds of flattened bone fragments discovered in the Iraqi Kurdistan,”

What do we know Neanderthals? According to Genesis, they were descendants of Noah. 

Source:

Emily Cooke, 2024,  Neanderthal woman's face brought to life in stunning reconstruction | Live Science 2 May.

Orangutan is first non-human seen treating wounds with medicinal plant

 

Rakus the orangutan with an injury on his face, before he applied leaves to the wound

Armas

Joel Kontinen

Darwinist say that the orangutan is first non-human seen treating wounds with medicinal plant. That is not true, because some ants have also been treating their wounds with plants.

Well, this is what science says about orangutans at least one of them, they say that a male Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) called Rakus, living in Gunung Leuser National Park in Indonesia has done that.

“There have been several previous reports of great apes attempting to self-medicate in other ways. Gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos, for example, sometimes swallow whole leaves from Aspilia plants to get rid of intestinal parasites.”

This is a way that animals have used intelligent design to heal them.  

Source:

Chen Ly, 2024. Orangutan is first non-human seen treating wounds with medicinal plant | New Scientist 2 May

 

Black hole 'traffic jams' are forcing cosmic monsters to collide, new study finds

 

Image courtesy of ESO/M. Kornmesser.

The galaxy is filled with wonders. Some of them belong to Black Holes. New research points to the fact that black hole collisions are almost inevitable.

The researchers say that supermassive “black holes, enormous voids that swirl around everything in the galaxies themselves. This swirly behaviour influences things like the disks of matter the galactic titan feasts on, stars and their systems — and, fascinatingly, even other black holes, albeit smaller, stellar mass ones.”

Source:

Robert Lea, 2024, Black hole 'traffic jams' are forcing cosmic monsters to collide, new study finds | Live Science 29. April.